WYCC PBS Chicago

The Talents of Teaching

The Talents of Teaching articulate exemplary faculty practices that reflect the CCC mission and values.

Full Description

The Talents of Teaching represent both best practices in educational research and the elements that City Colleges of Chicago teachers find most fundamental to their practice. Their purpose is to guide faculty development activities and to provide a foundation for faculty peer evaluation.Embracing the value of establishing a set of core competencies that reflect City Colleges’ mission and values, faculty from around the District worked to define the Talents of Teaching. As a living document, these statements are always open to revisions initiated by faculty and vetted by the Faculty Council of the City Colleges of Chicago.

Teaching and Learning

CCC faculty members develop and use highly effective teaching strategies that meet students’ diverse needs and that promote the acquisition and application of knowledge and the development of critical and creative thinking and problem-solving skills. They carefully design courses to meet learning outcomes, and promote students’ active participation in their own learning. They create an effective learning environment that fosters students’ intellectual curiosity, helps students to problem solve using discipline-specific thinking strategies, and encourages students to challenge sources and confront their own assumptions.

Measuring Learning

CCC faculty members employ a variety of formative and summative assessments to ensure that classroom instruction leads to student learning and the attainment of the student learning outcomes for the course. They carefully select and use a variety of appropriate assessment instruments, communicate clear assignment expectations and evaluation criteria, provide students ample and timely feedback, and evaluate and improve assessment activities and grading practices.

Diversity, Inclusion, Respect, and Student Support

CCC faculty members help students reach their academic, personal and career goals and foster a safe environment that respects the diversity of people and ideas by modeling respect for all students and conveying confidence in every student’s ability to learn. They employ approaches that take into account how learning is affected by students’ motivations, attitudes, perceptions, values and behaviors; and help students overcome obstacles by connecting them to appropriate resources.

Academic Citizenship, Shared Governance, and Leadership

CCC faculty members enrich the CCC community by participating actively in departmental, college and/or district committees and activities; they contribute to and provide leadership in their academic and professional communities, and they promote collaboration and teamwork among members of these communities. CCC faculty members maintain leadership organizations that determine and maintain standards of academic integrity and excellence and that participate in policy and curriculum development.

Content Expertise and Lifelong Learning

CCC faculty members demonstrate content-area expertise and continually grow intellectually by remaining current within their fields, expanding their content-area knowledge, studying teaching and learning, and engaging in self-evaluation and goal-setting. They engage in and model intellectual curiosity and express passion for their disciplines and for learning in general.